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QUEBEC CITY — Young people participating in the 49th International Eucharistic Congress today got to tell Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, who had served as Pope John Paul’s secretary for almost 40 years, thank you.

They were grateful to Pope John Paul II for World Youth Days and for instilling in them passion and love of the church.

In return, Cardinal Dziwisz told the dozens of young people sitting in front of him that he understood where Pope John Paul got his energy from: From the youths themselves.

He told the unofficial gathering of students to remember what Pope John Paul said, “to not be afraid to become saints” and to spread the Gospel.

At the end of the gathering, the young people sang the World Youth Day theme song from Toronto in 2002, which drew to Toronto nearly 200,000 young people from throughout Canada, the United States and 172 other nations.

This year’s World Youth Day in July will be in Sydney, Australia.

PHOTO: An image of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys greets visitors entering the exhibit hall at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City June 16. Born in France, St. Marguerite founded the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal in the 1650s. Along with a small group of women, she established and ran services and schools for colonists and the native inhabitants. (CNS/Nancy Wiechec)